Reins of the Onyxian Drake — How to Get the Mount

Reins of the Onyxian Drake — a rare flying mount in the form of a black dragon, added in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion (Patch 3.2.2) for World of Warcraft's fifth anniversary. The mount drops with an extremely low chance from the final boss Onyxia in the Onyxia's Lair raid (Dustwallow Marsh). It can also be purchased on the Black Market Auction House.

According to the mount journal description: "She has much in common with her mother, except that she was not killed and resurrected. But she is still young." The Onyxian Drake is the daughter of the famous Onyxia, one of the most recognizable bosses in the game's history.

• One of the iconic World of Warcraft mounts, tied to the legendary boss Onyxia — a symbol of the vanilla era
• Unique black dragon model that looks stunning both in flight and on the ground
• Extremely low drop chance (~1%) makes the mount truly rare and prestigious
• Counts toward the total mount collection counter for achievements
• Thematically pairs with the Onyxian Whelpling and Brood of Onyxia battle pets

There are two ways to get the Reins of the Onyxian Drake:

Method 1: Farming Boss Onyxia

The main method is killing Onyxia weekly in her Lair. Here's how:

1. Travel to Dustwallow Marsh on the continent of Kalimdor
2. Find the entrance to Onyxia's Lair in the southern part of the zone, in the Wyrmbog area
3. Create a raid group (you can solo it: create a group, then convert it to a raid)
4. Enter the instance and kill Onyxia — at max level, the fight takes less than a minute
5. Check the loot — Reins of the Onyxian Drake will appear in the boss's loot table on a lucky roll

Method 2: Black Market Auction House (BMAH)

The mount periodically appears on the Black Market Auction House. In The War Within, Madam Goya is located in Dornogal (The Fissure).

• Starting price: 20,000 gold
• Actual bidding price typically reaches 500,000 — 3,000,000 gold depending on server activity
• This is a guaranteed way to obtain it, but requires significant gold reserves

Note: 10-player and 25-player modes of Onyxia's Lair share a raid lockout. You can only enter one difficulty per week on each character.

Onyxia's Lair is located in the southern part of Dustwallow Marsh on the continent of Kalimdor, in the Wyrmbog subzone. The raid entrance is shaped like a dragon's maw.

Alliance

1. Teleport to Stormwind and use the portal to Theramore on the Portal Pier (if available), or fly directly from Stormwind
2. Alternatively — use the Caverns of Time portal from Stormwind's portal room, then fly to Dustwallow Marsh
3. From Theramore, fly south to Mudsprocket, then southeast to the Lair entrance

Horde

1. Teleport to Orgrimmar and use the Caverns of Time portal from the portal room
2. From the Caverns of Time, fly northwest to Dustwallow Marsh
3. Alternatively — teleport to Thunder Bluff and fly east
4. Head to Mudsprocket, then southeast to the Lair entrance

Entry Requirements: No prerequisite quests or keys are required. The attunement was removed in Patch 3.0.2. Any character can freely enter the raid.

Using Alts

Since the raid lockout is weekly, the most effective way to increase your chances is running Onyxia's Lair on multiple characters each week.

Recommended Classes

At level 80, Onyxia dies in seconds to any class. The main criterion is travel speed to the instance:

Optimal Route

1. Set your hearthstone in Mudsprocket or use the nearest flight point
2. Fly to the Onyxia's Lair entrance — this takes 1–2 minutes
3. Enter the raid, run straight through the corridor to Onyxia
4. Kill the boss — at max level this takes 10–20 seconds
5. Collect the loot and exit the instance

Time per run: 2–5 minutes including travel. With 10 characters, a full weekly cycle takes about 30–50 minutes.

Farming Addons

• Rarity — tracks the number of attempts and calculates mount drop probability
• SavedInstances — shows which characters have already completed the raid this week